Personally, we’ve been laying off the Brooklyn Lager for the past few days. Not because someone sent us a “pesky e-mail,” but because we have what we fear is bird flu. Ok, we’ve been reading way too much Drudge … it’s probably just regular flu. (This is also our way of apologizing for our delirium over the past few days.)
Then we saw this story, pointing out that there has actually been a push to keep people away from Brooklyn lager. (We think.) It’s sort of long and complicated, but it all starts with Bruce Ratner, the developer who has a $3.5 billion plan to rebuild a portion of downtown Brooklyn to create a Nets arena and 7,300 units of housing.
Some weirdo, who is very determined to stop the stadium from being built, went ahead and sent a bunch of forged e-mails, claiming they were from Ratner. They were sent to the president of Brooklyn Brewery, Steve Hindy, who has supported the development, claiming the new stadium would carry the brew. Now Ratner’s taking the case to court, with the only current evidence being a fragment of a March 3rd e-ail.
“Just a friendly messag [sic] to let you know I will not be selling any Brooklyn lager at the Brooklyn Nets Stadium,” court papers quote the email as reading. “Nothing personal, but I have to make a deal with the larger suppliers – Anheuser Busch for one – in order to really do the right thing. You’re small time and always will be.”
While the writer of the emails remains unknown, it is assumed that the mystery sender had the intention of “undermining public support” for the Atlantic Yards Development Project &mdash.
Still, we are confused. If the intention was to get people to stop buying Brooklyn Lager because Steve Hindy supported the development, why would someone also against the development want people to think that Hindy was no longer supplying the stadium? Are we supposed to want to drink this beer because Ratner was mean to our nabe brewery, or stay away because the brewery is supporting the reconstruction of our neighborhood?
Can’t everyone just grab the brewski of their choice, and clink their bottles and thank the lords that they aren’t building an NYU dorm in the BK?
Ratner Files Suit Over Rude E-mails Sent in His Name [NY Sun via Curbed]